Southern Baptists urge continued ban on gay Scouts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation’s largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay leaders and Scouts when it votes in May.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee passed the resolution Tuesday. It also calls on like-minded corporate leaders to support the Scouts financially. And it expresses “dismay and disappointment” at any Scout leaders who may have lobbied to remove the ban.

The Scouts announced last month that they would consider a proposal to let the sponsors of each individual troop decide whether to ban gays. The policy was supposed to be settled on Feb. 6 by the Scouts’ 70-member national executive board. Under intense pressure from both sides, the board punted the decision to the 1,400-member National Council.

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